The Deputy Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Dagestan, Mohammed Murtazaliev, was shot dead on Friday morning on the outskirts of the republic's capital Makhachkala, local investigators said.
His daughter, nephew and driver also died when the car caught fire following an ambush by gunmen on Friday morning in the village of Samandar on the outskirts of Makhachkala in Russia's north Caucasus region.
"Unknown people shot up Murtazaliev's car along with his driver, daughter and nephew," a local investigators' spokesman said.
Murtazaliev’s murder was probably motivated by his official duties, investigators say. The details of the incident are being investigated.
Dagestan has been hit by a series of terrorist attacks in the past two days. Two car bombs rocked Makhachkala shortly after midnight on Wednesday, killing one person and leaving 61 injured.
The district police chief’s car came under fire on Thursday morning in Buinaksk, killing two of his guards. Gunmen shot at a police station in Dagestan on Thursday evening, but no-one was hurt.
Terror attacks occur frequently in the north Caucasus region, where Islamist insurgents have been fighting against the Federal authorities since a separatist war broke out in Chechnya in the early 1990’s.
